Julius

The comedic expectation you had was probably down to Lourd and Miller's prior involvement with the film, which didn't end so well. Whilst I love their other works, I always thought that this would have been a bit of a strange fit - especially with it supposedly being Lawrence Kasdan's final screenplay, which he wrote with his son. No confirmation yet that Kenobi is the one arriving in 2020, but it's the only other spin-off film we've heard about getting off the ground in the last 18 months or so, so it seems likely to be the one we get after IX, and will be directed by Stephen Daldry. I think it's still in the early stages of pre-production: Ewan McGregor hasn't been announced as reprising his role as of yet, but everything seems to be pointing towards his return.

In summary: Trust me to not check the General Game Discussion thread for this This certainly sounds like a Destiny-like game, which, ahem, IS NOT WHAT WE WANT EA. Call me Anakin Skywalker and cut off my right arm, replace it with a mechanical one, then cut off my other arm and both of my legs, and leave me to burn by the side of a river of lava before giving me an uncomfortable black leather makeover and a voice-changer, can it be 2023 already so EA can wave goodbye to this franchise's license please?

Solo: A Star Wars Story stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo and is directed by Ron Howard. The film is themed as a Space Western centered on a young Han Solo, the roguish smuggler who later meets Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker in the Mos Eisley Cantina in Star Wars: A New Hope, and his adventures with his Wookiee partner Chewbacca, including their encounter with Lando Calrissian. The film is set for release May 25th 2018.

I think that this trailer was much smarter, but have to agree that TFA's was clearly better in terms of hyping things up; ultimately, I feel that that boils down to the dependence on Original Trilogy motifs and music in the TFA trailer, whereas as TLJ's includes a lot of the new stuff we first heard in TFA. Gosh darn, this film really can't come soon enough!

That was...extremely cinematic, to say the least. I'm still on the fence and will probably be playing Battlefront II the week that this drops, but I might end up getting it. The way that I've interpreted it so far is that the main story will be slightly altered and not too different to that of SM, but then this game will follow through with some great post-game content. I hope. Just need a trailer like that great SM one we got last year at this point to get me over the fence.

So, in the unlikely case that anyone thought that the most recent trailer for The Last Jedi revealed anything that shouldn't have been revealed...we've seen nothing yet. Rian certainly knows how to drive a hype train. ¡59 days to go!

Probably something to do with Dooku; @bob love the SW Blu-Rays, but it's a real shame that TFA doesn't come with much in the way of bonus features like - awkwardly - the prequels did :/

DICE's official beta debrief is out (see bold for some Crate clarification):

I thought that this was the more obvious option...

Ripping off != callbacks. Plus, even if it does (which I find highly unlikely) is there really that much wrong with "ripping off" what many would argue is one of the greatest sequels in film history? It's a trailer; if we're really going to go deep into TESB callbacks, we could talk about the not-so-obvious inclusion of part of the Imperial March, or perhaps the harp playing at the start being isolated from the beginning of The Rebel Fleet. Unlike TFA, which didn't mirror ANH stop much in its promotional footage, TLJ is very clearly leaning into it, which is a very smart move for marketing, and let's not forget that it is extremely rare for the studio producing the film to have much of a hand in the trailer; its more than likely that the trailer company (which did a fantastic job, imo) used footage which harked back to TESB intentionally, as it's an easy marketing tool to use, and couple that with unclear and vague musical callbacks that are originally from TESB being in the trailer? It's marketing genius at work, if you ask me.

Precisely this! Upon first viewing it felt like way too much had been shown: wait, that happens, and that happens, and that happens? Subsequent viewings calmed my initial caution, and there are so many ways in which any one of those potentially-spoilery-but-not-spoilery events could go. Kudos to whomever cut the trailer, I think it's an absolute masterpiece (especially with how they got Rey's lightsaber-swinging sound effects to match up to the melody playing at that time). Got my midnight tickets booked too I remember being extremely excited for TFA, yet somehow I'm even more excited for TLJ! 65 days to go now...

For sure, I absolutely agree, and whilst EA's studios certainly create some of the best looking games for casual audiences out there, I do have to wonder why exactly Disney handed them of all companies the license to the franchise for 10 years. Ultimate Team has been a thing on EA Sports' portfolio for years, but it's never gone this far (surprisingly): there's still an element of skill and luck required when playing FIFA, for example, which means whilst those that don't spend will be at a disadvantage, they can still win if they play well enough. It's the stuff buff themselves, like the 100% no damage on Boba Fett, rub me the wrong way more so than the fact that others are seemingly desperate enough to spend money on the game. It would have been difficult enough to skip the game at launch and instead buy it at Christmas before jumping in, but for sure, this doesn't make you competitive at all. I hear you @Hero-of-Time, I really do, and whilst I will still pre-order the game - I have a great deal on it - I absolutely agree that this is wrong, but there's simply not enough to yet prove how far this template goes into informing the game's meta.

The director of the film, Rian Johnson, on Twitter: Hard not to love this guy What are you implying?

Whilst I agree that this is disgusting if this is how it turns out, I don't think this is the whole story by a long shot, and certainly shouldn't be taken at face value yet. If the game is launched and it's still the same case, then sure, but there's still time for change. Players who have played both the Alpha and Beta have noticed some key changes in balance, and whilst the Beta is typically a later testing phase than the Alpha, some have actually suggested that this build of the game is built the way that it is simply because it is a beta, and that the Star Card situation doesn't truly reflect what we've seen up to this point, or what we'll see at launch. The game will, I'm sure, be pay-to-win-faster, but I wouldn't conclude that it's pay-to-win just yet. We'll have to wait and see, and to anyone who was on the fence, I suggest seeing how launch week goes. If these problems are still in abundance, it bothers you that much and you don't care much at all for the first real story in a SW video game for nearly a decade, then I would suggest passing on this one. I just think it's a shame because you just know that the DICE devs didn't originally design the game to be this way, and yet here we are.

I think that the best thing about this trailer is that, at first glance, it seems like it ruins a lot of things, but I actually think it's cut in such a way so that we can't tell what is where. Smart move LFL. Personally, I don't think they've spoiled it: this seems like a massive misdirect to me, and I think that after what happened with Rogue One's trailers that Rian Johnson might have had a stronger say in what was and wasn't shown. I actually think that the shot in question is from the end of the first act of the film, at a guess!

Finally, a poster that I can - somewhat - get behind! And a trailer to boot:

For sure, can't wait! Feel like getting up in the early hours of the morning is going to either wreck me or finally fix my messed up sleeping patterns; we shall see. Also, not quite sure how this slipped in under the radar...but it did: Guess who isn't getting any sleep after they wake up at 02:30? ...

Just in case the hype train hadn't already left the station...

A lot of convincing stuff going around that tickets will drop within days of, if not the same day as, the trailer, which is expected to drop on Monday evening/Tuesday morning (depending on your time zone). Less than 70 days to go now!

Spent about three hours on the beta today after getting back from college, and boy oh boy is this game drop dead GORGEOUS. Whilst you can tell from afar that it's still very clearly a beta (i.e. 'flat' water outside of Maz's Castle on Takodana), it makes up for it by being a heck of a lot of fun to both look at and play. Took a while to get used to the controls, mind, but my last game I got ~10000 battle points, played as Rey and got 15 kills and 20 assists; it's much more fun once you get the hang of what they've changed about it. TIP: when starting Galactic Assault on Naboo, select the Specialist class. They are the only class with a weapon capable of accurately hitting the opposition from the starting position, and is a great way to rack up some early points; let off 3-5 focused shots, move about, refocus and repeat.

Only two more days to go! Beta early-access code received and redeemed...can't wait (Also, Rey's TLJ skin looks great!)

It just requires downloading on the 4th and you're in then

Beta begins next Wednesday (4th) for those that pre-ordered and on Friday (6th) for those that didn't. Ends on the following Monday (9th) when a trailer for TLJ is also expected to drop. Exciting stuff! Four modes will be included in the beta: • Galactic Assault on Naboo (as seen at E3) • Starfighter Assault over Fondor (as seen at Gamescom) • a Strike scenario on Takodana (8 v. 8 objective-driven play) • single-player Arcade mode (also on Naboo) On consoles, the beta will take up ~15GB. There will be no pre-load available, with the download going live at 09:00 BST. The completion of daily challenges in the beta will also earn players rewards, which will be transferable to the full game.

Single player story scene

According to CineWorld, the film clocks in at 150 minutes, which would make The Last Jedi the longest Star Wars film to date (8 minutes longer than Attack of the Clones) and roughly the same length as movie classics such as Apocalypse Now or The Dark Knight. I have a great feeling about this...